


Then She Saw It, the Ring

by DressTheSage



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Allusions to sex but no smut, Cute and wholesome in kind of a weird way, F/F, Interrogation, Mentor/Protégé, References to Homophobia, You ever just confess to being engaged to your torturer's niece to buy yourself time?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:54:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26195215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DressTheSage/pseuds/DressTheSage
Summary: Ladislava finds herself captured and interrogated by the Alliance, by one Alliance leader in particular, Judith von Daphnel. As the interrogation drags on, Ladislava ends up under a new round of questions, as Judith asks about the engagement ring on her finger, only to find out that Ladislava is, well, engaged to her niece.Awkward.
Relationships: Ladislava/Ingrid Brandl Galatea
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Then She Saw It, the Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yall! So, this fic is inspired by a conversation I had with @TripleXXXFox on twitter earlier this week, and I decided to just knock it out with a quick 3-hour writing session and toss it up for the sake of it.
> 
> In this fic, I refer to Ingrid as Judith's niece, which I realize is a much closer and more definite relation than they have in-game, but fuck it, I wanted to give it some more weight, and I feel like it works here. 
> 
> While you're here, I'd like to mention that, along with a good friend of mine, Eli, I’m helping put together Somewhere to Belong: A trans wlw/mlm relationship zine! it’s @3hTransZine on Twitter! If yall could, going to check out the twitter and filling out the interest check would be hella appreciated, and I thank you all!
> 
> If you like what you read here, check out my current ongoing fic "Broken Smiles, Broken Teeth" if you like lesbians, herbos, polyamory and hurt/comfort. Also! follow me on Social Media as you please for more dumb gay shit from yours truly.  
> I’m on twitter @DresstheSage and check out Somewhere to Belong, a FETH Trans wlw/mlm zine @3HTransZine

Ladislava rubbed the small emerald stone on her ring with her thumb, careful to hide it as she spit a glob of blood onto the hard stone floor beneath her, grunting as another fist smashed into the side of her head, snapping ir to the side and sending her world spinning for the hundredth time that night. She laughed, hearing another angry grunt come from her captor as another fist slammed nto her skull,sending her vision spinning no less quickly to the other side. 

“Just give me the information I need, Imperial, and I’ll go easy on you. You can have a soft bed, and a hot meal when you lay down tonight. I know sleeping in that chair couldn’t have done much good for your headache last night.” Judith taunted, trying to pry information from the enemy general but clearly in no rush. She was enjoying her work. 

“Remind me again what that information was, Lady Judith? I seem to have trouble recalling, what with all the cranial trauma.” Ladislava said, spitting another glob of blood onto the ground right at her captor’s feet. 

“You know exactly what I want, you damned Imperial dog!” Judith said, slamming a fist into Ladislava’s gut. Had she had anything left in her stomach, it’s likely that it would have ended up discarded onto the ground as well. “Tell me what the Emperor is planning! Where are your troops stationed? What were you doing marching a battalion to Alliance territory? The Alliance is neutral in your war with the kingdom, why attack us?” 

“We were simply marching to reach the premises of one of the more disloyal of your lord’s estates, intent to collect supplies we had been promised in exchange for assurance of protection. Your nobles are quite eager to betray each other as the Kingdom’s ranks continue to fall.” 

“Which lord?” Judith’s voice went cold, and Ladislava only laughed. 

“As if I’d tell you.” 

“You will if you want to make it through the night.” 

“I would gladly give my life in pursuit of Her Majesty’s revolution!” Ladislava barked, teeth bared as she felt Judith grab her under the jaw, thumb and forefinger jammed into her cheeks, ensuring she did not bite down. 

“Ah, they say a scared dog barks loudest.Is the Great Dragon of Adrestia scared of dying in some basement instead of like the glorious martyr she dreamed of becoming?” Ladislava’s eyes filled with rage as she struggled against her bindings, making Judith laugh even harder. “I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I little mutt? You’re too easy to read.” Ladislava wrenched her head free, burying her teeth into Judith’s palm, nearly biting the meat clean off before her captor managed to escape. 

“If i’m so easy, why didn’t you stop me from doing that?! Why have you failed to break me!?” Ladislava asked, blood trickling down her chin as a feral joy filled her eyes. Juidith stayed there, looking down her nose at Ladislava as she tried to figure out how to break her. 

Then she saw it, the ring. An emerald set in silver on her right ring finger. It was an engagement ring. 

“Hmmmm, Maybe you aren’t so easy to read, Ladi my dear. I never would have pegged you for the settling type.” Judith said, walking over and struggling to pull the ring off. After several minutes of wrenching and avoiding her captive’s gnashing teeth, she finally got it free. “What’s his name?” Judith asked, looking at the ring and chuckling. 

She didn’t care, of course, but she knew that the key to a good interrogation wasn’t smashing someone’s walls down in an instant. No, you cracked them bit by bit, filling their dam of secrets with a spider’s web of cracks until they finally burst. So she figured she’d start with something small, then work up. 

“Fuck you.” Ladislava growled, eyes murderous as she looked between Judith and the ring. 

“Ooh scandalous, attempting to flirt with a woman while engaged? Ladislava, I’m shocked!” Judith laughed at the rage filling the woman’s eyes. “Come on, tell me what his name is, and I’ll give it back.” 

“You’re a liar.” Ladislava muttered. Judith simply shrugged and tossed the ring carelessly to the table behind her. Ladislava’s eyes never left it. As it rang on the table, a smile struck the captive woman’s lips. “But I’ll give you one thing. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

Judith pondered on what that could mean, then looked back to the ring on the table and saw the design, chuckling as she put it together. The band was thick and simple, only adorned by two long grooves and the gemstone. Traditionally, it would be a husband’s ring. 

“So, the Dragon of Adrestia is a carpet muncher.” Judith wondered, seeing a scowl etch into her captive’s face as she struggled against her binds, only making Judith laugh louder. “Hey, no judgement here. I’m not impartial to a kind maiden’s company every now and again.” Judith said, trying to weasel her way deeper into Ladislava’s mind. 

“I was not unaware.” That, however, caught Judith by surprise. 

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” 

“Oh, nothing. Just that you aren’t the only one in your family to partake.” Ladislava’s scowl turned into a wicked grin, her tongue dragging along her bloodied teeth. “I know your niece is quite fond of women as well.” 

“Don’t you dare speak of her, Imperial dog!” Judith screamed, slapping Ladislava with the back of her hand. That made Ladislava chuckle, spitting a tooth onto the ground and glaring up at Judith. 

“What? I thought you’d be proud. It’s amazing what a young lady can grow into when not strangled by Faerghan ‘tradition’.” Another slap, another cackle. “Or is that why you’re mad?! You know what Faerghus does to women like us, and you’re ashamed to admit that your niece suffered through all of it and only escaped because she turned her back on the kingdom and you!” Another slap, and Ladislava went limp, a moment later shaking back awake and looking up dazedly at Judith, who was furious and very very open to show it. 

“Shut. Up.” Judith ordered. 

“Oh? What happened to trying to make me talk? Is it a different tune now that I’m saying things you’d rather not hear?” Ladislava asked, already knowing the answer. “Ingrid lived her whole life being told by your damned family, however distant, that she had to choose, her happiness or her home, and she did exactly that!” 

“Shut up!” Judith shouted, raising her arm to strike. 

“NO! You wanted me to speak, let me sing it louder for you!” Ladislava declared, seeing she’d gotten under the woman’s skin, she decided to buy herself as much time as she could.  
“She was a scared, terrified, closeted young woman when she joined her majesty’s class. She told me so much about how many nights she spent sobbing herself to sleep at the thought of what would happen to her if she was discovered, how much she wanted to die in honor just so she wouldn’t have to stand the hatred toward herself that land had planted in her, like a nightshade planted in bitter, broken soil! I’ve heard a hundred times how relieved she was when she was away from the Faerghan taint that possessed the others in her class! Then, when this war broke out, how thankful she was to have a cause to fight for, a cause to live for! Not just some glorious ‘honor’ to die for like those Faerghan bastards fed her morning, noon, and night! She has grown into a proud knight, and honorable woman, and a damn fine partner!” That stilled Judith’s hand, her eyes going wide as she saw Ladislava’s grin grow even wider. 

“You’re lying.” Ladislava smiled, her teeth still coated in blood. 

“My ring is inlaid with an emerald, so I might remember the dazzling color of her eyes. Hers has a ruby, so she may remember mine. We are never truly alone. Even apart, we watch out for each other.”

“Goddess have mercy, do you ever shut up?!” Judith smashed her fist into Ladislava’s jaw, sending a blood splatter spreading across the side of the wall. 

“Why would I? Your niece is one of my favorite subjects.” Ladislava said through a smile and grit teeth. “She spent three years as my squire, did you know that?” 

“You sick bastard.” 

“Oh please, don’t assume you know anything about me. I’m no monster. I never cast a glance in her direction when she was under my command. I’m an honorable woman, and your niece had enough to suffer through without feeling unsafe in my service. I tell you this so you can know that I spent years working alongside her, watching her grow into the masterful knight she is today. Ingrid has grown to be a quite talented warrior amongst the ranks of the Adrestian army. I’ve enjoyed watching her grow in her combat expertise as well as her confidence. She grew strong under Adrestia’s banner, while Faerghus only held her down! ” 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? What did you sick fucks do to her?” 

“You misunderstand.” Ladislava slurred, her head woozy from the last strike. “It was not us who made her suffer, but the filthy noble bastards in Fearghus that, in its neutrality, your homeland enables! Do you have any idea of the hell she endured in that damned icy wasteland? The things the church taught her to think of women like us? Sinful, prideful, lustful monsters not to be trusted!” 

“You’re so full of shit.” 

“Oh, believe me I wish I were lying. I was on patrol late one evening, a matter of weeks before Ingrid was set to leave my squireship and swear herself as a knight of Adrestia, when my patrol happened to take me past the dormitories of the Monastery. Want to know what I heard? Not shattering windows of invading enemies. No, I heard the terrified sobbing of a fearful woman, which I followed right to Ingrid’s door. When she answered my knock, I saw someone who I had only ever seen be strong and proud sobbing like a schoolgirl. I spent the rest of my watch with her sobbing into my tunic and telling me all of the horrid things she was taught to think about herself. I tell you now, had I not already sworn death to the damned Kingdom for its heinous acts of subjugation, I’d have done it right then for no other reason than the fact it made Ingrid wish death on herself more than any that had wronged her.” Ladislava said, pride clear in her eyes as she continued on, Judith was agog, listening to the woman speak with such passion she had only ever heard attributed to her speaking of the Emperor. “All I could do that night was hold her and thank the goddess I’d been born Adrestian. For all my ability, I could not have survived a tenth of the psychological abuse that damned Kingdom put her through. But she turned to me, told me that I had shown her how to be strong, and all I could do was hold back my laughter and try not to apologize for the apparent deceit I had inflicted on her. That woman is a hundred times stronger then I will ever be.” Judith shook her head, grabbing the bound captive by her bloody, torn collar and shaking her in the chair. 

“Shut up, and tell me where your armies are marching! What the hell are you planning!?” Judith bellowed. 

“I am planning… ” Ladislava chuckled, spitting blood into Judith’s eyes. “to marry your niece. Anything beyond that, I am simply a knight in service to a grand Emperor, and I will do as I am told, nothing more.” 

“I still don’t believe you.” Judith said, shoving Ladislava back into the chair before clocking her across the jaw again, wiping the blood from her own face. “You could just as easily be married to some barmaid, trying to get under my skin.” 

“Oh, don’t think me so bland as to think of only that when searching for a way to deceive you. Even with my mind smashed into the side of my skull, I am a far more gifted liar.” Ladislava chuckled, licking her teeth again. “Ingrid tells me often that I have a ‘silver tongue’. Although perhaps she meant another fashion.” 

The punch that followed that comment knocked Ladislava unconscious. Perhaps she was just finally knocked too silly to think properly, but either way she found her thoughts drifting back to her beloved. She could only think back to that night. 

They had been out on a mission some short time before the Emperor’s professor had appeared free from whatever bonds had held her for the better part of half-a-decade. Ladislava and Ingrid had been sent out to scout around the great bridge of Myrnin, and had finished their notes on the movement of troops between various factions in the Alliance before setting off for Enbarr. 

However, that evening there had been a rather monstrous storm, and so the two had been forced to camp under a heavy bank of oak trees, Ingrid’s horse tethered to the nearest trunk, while Ladilava’s wyvern was sleeping peacefully, slung among the branches above.

Ingrid was cooking some rations with water from their canteens and a small campfire, and the food was nearing ready to eat. Ladislava had asked Ingrid to cook the night’s meal, as she had torn her tunic open in trying to wrangle her wyvern away from chasing a stray hawk, and was sewing the article of clothing back into some sort of working order, sat leaning against the tree trunk in her undershirt and heavy linen pants. 

“I do apologize, Ingrid. Had I not dilly-dallied with my documentation, we might be home already. Instead, it seems the dirt shall be our bedquarters for the night.” Ladislava said through grit teeth, a needle pinched between them as she adjusted the garment. 

“It’s not a bother to me, Ladislava. I have slept in rougher conditions, and the accommodations are not nearly as important as the company.” Ingrid said, smiling at the knight, who could dubiously referred to as ‘topless’, before looking back at the fire. 

“You might want to move just a bit away from the fire, Ingrid.” 

“Why? This is a very comfortable spot.” 

“Well, you just seem rather flush all of a sudden.” Ladislava said, completely missing the look of embarrassment on her companion’s face. 

“Oh..Oh! Perhaps you’re right.” Ingrid said, making a song and dance of scooting back, all the while not moving much at all. 

“I’m sorry. Perhaps I’m just compensating my own guilt a bit. You cooked last night, tonight was meant to be my responsibility.” 

“It’s nothing, Ladislava, really. I’m just sorry I couldn’t be any help with that.” Ingrid giggled, moving the scraps of reconstituted stock and various soup components around the small pot they’d stored in their supplies. “I never was much one for things such as sewing, much to my mother’s dismay.” Ingrid said, a quiet chuckle escaping her lips, followed by another noise that sounded significantly less pleasant. A moment later Ladislava heard a sniffle, and looked up from her stitch to see Ingrid staring into the soup, a thin line of moisture trailing down the side of her cheek, reflecting fire light and making it seem as if Ingrid were some sort of beast made of flame yet encased in flesh, and now the outer shell was beginning to crack. “I suppose she’s dismayed at much of the things I’ve done, as of late.” 

Ladislava didn’t spare a second thought as she moved along the dirt to Ingrid’s side, laying her arm over the woman’s shoulder. 

“It’s not her life to decide, Ingrid. It’s yours. It always has been, and always will be.” Ladislava said, her words so familiar she would think they might have worn ruts into her throat. 

There had been so much growth in Ingrid since they had first met, over half a decade now, but still she struggled so hard with herself, with finding the ground beneath her feet when she was not astride her mount. 

“I know… but I just don’t know what to do with that, Ladi.” Ingrid admitted, almost ashamed. Ladislava gave a somber smile, the nickname being a rare but sweet gesture.“I spent so long thinking that I just needed to survive until I was gifted an honorable death. Until all of the fear of being discovered or bartered away to whatever man could offer my house enough to survive would finally stop… I never expected to make it this long, and now I’m stuck here.”

“That is the curse of those who fight to survive. Never time to plan for the future, and yet so constantly we are in need of one. But that is why we find our cause, our purpose, our mission. So that we know we are always moving, every step toward a goal, lest we be left wallowing in ourselves.” 

“You’re right, as always.” Ingrid said, wiping a tear from her cheek as she looked up at Ladislava, that same strange flush coming over her cheeks. That was even more curious to Ladislava now. She was right beside the woman, and yet the flames were nowhere near hot enough to cause that sort of reaction. Then again, Ingrid was still wearing her tunic, while Ladislava’s was in her hand, needle jutting out of the fabric haphazardly. 

“I’m not always right, Ingrid. I’m in fact very often it’s quite the opposite.” Ladislava raised her tunic in example. 

“Not where it counts…” Ingrid’s voice was wistful as she spoke. “You have always been there to help me when I needed you most. You showed me how to find my own purpose, one that made me want to fight to survive with every ounce of my being instead of trying to fight hard enough that my death might be honorable…” Ingrid said, for once that night, holding Ladislava’s gaze steadily, a firm determination in her soft green eyes that Ladislava would understand a few moments later. 

“Well, I only helped. You are the one who took those steps. You’ve been an honorable teammate, and I've been proud seeing you grow into the knight I knew you could be.” Ingrid seemed to falter a bit there, as if something hadn’t gone to plan. 

“Thank you, Ladislava. That means… quite a bit, coming from you.” Ingrid sighed. “Would you like to know what I think I have found as my purpose?” 

“That doesn’t seem to be any of my business, really.” Ladislava saw Ingrid run her hands down her face, exasperated. “I think that that is between you and the goddess, or whatever you have found as, ohp!” 

Ingrid moved up to her knees, grabbing the taller woman by either side of her face, wrenching her forward and slamming their lips together, cutting her off mid-sentence. Ladislava fell back, her arm instinctively grabbing onto Ingrid and pulling her down with her. They had remained there, locked together, sprawled out in the dirt, lips interlocked until Ladislava was left breathless. Finally, they pulled apart,both panting desperately for as as Ingrid sat atop the still wide-eyed knight. 

“For goddess’s sake, the purpose is you, you dense jackass!” Ingrid declared between breaths, her hands moving to her hips as she leaned her head back, relieved.

“Oh.” Ladislava said, her brain not quite in the mood to function at that particular moment. 

“I swear, I have been trying to drop hints for months now! You are a glorious, wonderful woman but you have the observational capability of a very sexy boulder!” Ingrid said, chuckling as she leaned down, resting her hands on Ladislava’s shoulders. “Do, um… do you want me to get off of you?” Ladislava spent several seconds, however they felt like hours, beneath Ingrid in that moment trying to process what exactly was going through her mind. Finally, she shook her head no. 

“I… I like where I am.” Ladislava said, leaning up on her elbows and resting a hand on Ingrid’s cheek. “I feel the same. In truth… I have for some time.”

The smile that etched itself into Ingrid’s face at that moment filled Ladisalva’s heart with so much joy that in that moment she realized she had found another purpose for herself as well. Not that she would ever abandon Her Majesty or her revolution, but in that moment she swore to herself, the goddess, and anything that would listen to her that she would do whatever it took to make that smile never leave Ingrid’s face. She would make the woman at that moment sat atop her lap the happiest woman in the world, or by the goddess’s wrath try her damndest. 

That night was spent in a blur of flung fabric and grunts and moans and whispered desire or pleads for more. For all that she had seen of Ingrid as a masterful horseback rider, she had never seen her ride anything so enthusiastically as she did her jaw that night. 

There were some quickly thought up excuses for the lisp in Ladislava’s speech that next morning when they gave their report. 

“Wake up, bitch.” Ladislava heard before feeling a rush of cold as a bucket of water was dumped on her head. “I swear, even unconscious you don’t shut the hell up. At least now I don’t have to listen to your weird sleep-moans of my damned niece’s name.” 

“You could be free of that trouble if you’d just send me on my merry way.” Ladislava pointed out, rolling her head around and filling the room with the sound of popping joints as she cracked her neck. 

“Not happening. Not until you tell me where you were going.” 

“How long was I unconscious?” Ladislava asked, making Judith look a bit concerned. 

“Did you hear me, shit-for-brains? I said-“ 

“I heard what you said just fine, I asked a question.” Ladislava interrupted. 

“Oh hell, um, 6 hours?” Ladislava grinned.

“Well, then I suppose I’m right on time.”

“On time for what?” Judith asked, only to hear a distant scream, followed soon after by an explosion. 

“For that.” Ladislava said, a self-satisfied grin on her bloodied face as she heard another distant scream. “We’ve been searching for you for some time, Judith. I’m glad you were so enthusiastic to help us find you, and your little base of operations.” 

“No.” Judith said, grabbing a sword from nearby. 

“Oh yes. Thank you so dearly for being so predictable. Had you not captured me, we might have never found you. But oh, the wonders you can do with a mage, an engagement ring, and a simple location spell.” Judith looked at the ring on the table, and heard a much closer scream. 

“You rat bastard!” Judith was intent to run and bury her blade into Ladislava’s chest, only to hear the heavy oak door of the interrogation room burst open, sending her sprawling to the ground. Two heavily armored soldiers tackled her to the ground, and a tall blonde lance wielder with eyes like dazzling emeralds walked in behind them, her lance bloodied and quickly discarded as she ran to Ladislava.

“My light! Oh goddess, what have they done to you?” Ingrid asked, cupping either side of Ladislava’s face as she examined the array of bruises and cuts adorning it. 

“I’m fine, my love. Nothing they could do to me was worse than the distance from you.” Ingrid giggled, pulling a knife from her belt and slicing away at the binds holding her partner. A few minutes later, once feeling had returned to her extremities, Ladislava hobbled out of the now-burning base, her arm slung over Ingrid’s shoulders as she supported a fair majority of Ladislava’s weight. 

A matter of weeks later, and the Alliance fell to the might of the Imperial military. A matter of months after that, and that same army would march through Faerghus, bringing about the united Fodlan of Edelgard’s grand revolution. 

They were wed on the first night of peace. Many people were. 

After that, the war became something far out of the depths of either Ladislava or Ingrid, into the world of politics and reform that the two knights were not skilled in or needed for. So, reluctantly, but with no small amount of cajoling from their friends and the Emperor, as well as the recently crowned Empress Eisner, they both stepped down, pursuing a life of quiet retirement in a small village to the south of Garreg Mach. Ladislava hunted and fished in her free time, while Ingrid found her joy in the small stable of horses the duo kept on their property. Each night they would find themselves beside each other, whether tangled up on the bed, or asleep on the couch, each of their books discarded in a sleepily dropped pile on the ground, they always found their days ending together.Their lives were their own, and they spent them on exactly nothing but each other, and the things that brought them joy. 

Though they only ever officially adopted two children, a rambunctious trouble maker by the name of Ilecia who, by her age and her fiery red hair Ingrid always figured she could guess the fatherhood of, and a quite young boy left behind by the death of Dimitri name Sorace, they became in a strange way the aunts, and eventually grandaunts, of every child in the village around them. There was not a child who grew up in that village who didn’t have some story about their ‘weird aunt Ingy and aunt Ladis” and their ‘distant cousins Sorace and Ilecia’.

The young women of that village especially always found a listening ear whenever they had troubles, whether needing training with a weapon to pursue a career as a knight or discourage some young man from pursuing them, or in need of advice on asking another girl to a picnic date, the little cottage with the horse barn and the collection of bows on the front porch was as much a home to anyone in that village as it was Ingrid and Ladislava’s. 

The many orphans and broken families left behind in the aftermath of the war were all, at some point, tied together by those two women, and while Ingrid never did find any reconnection to her family in what used to be the Holy Kingdom, she found a family all her own, and a life all her own, but made all the sweeter by the presence of her wife and her children at her side.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yall! Congrats on completing the story, and I hope you enjoyed it! I'm not used to smaller pieces, so this was defintiely a new experiment for me, and I'd love any feedback yall have on the piece! 
> 
> Also, I'm literally fighting the urge to not just make this the first chapter to a series of slice of life ficlets about Ladislava and Ingrid being big gay wives together. 
> 
> While you're here, I'd like to mention that, along with a good friend of mine, Eli, I’m helping put together Somewhere to Belong: A trans wlw/mlm relationship zine! it’s @3hTransZine on Twitter! If yall could, going to check out the twitter and filling out the interest check would be hella appreciated, and I thank you all!
> 
> If you like what you read here, check out my current ongoing fic "Broken Smiles, Broken Teeth" if you like lesbians, herbos, polyamory and hurt/comfort. Also! follow me on Social Media as you please for more dumb gay shit from yours truly.  
> I’m on twitter @DresstheSage and check out Somewhere to Belong, a FETH Trans wlw/mlm zine @3HTransZine


End file.
